The forgotten role of hundreds of professional footballers who gave up the game to fight in World War One is to be formally recognised by the Government.
Hundreds of professional footballers who were killed fighting in World War One will have their graves restored.
The move will mark the sacrifice of the athletes who gave up their careers to fight for their country.
There were over 5,000 men playing professional football in Great Britain in 1914, and of those, 2,000 joined the military when war broke out.
Sajid Javid, the Culture Secretary, unveiled the plan in honour of tomorrow's 100th anniversary of the Christmas Truce when British and German soldiers shared cigars, sang songs and even played a game of football together in No-Man’s-Land on Christmas Day 1914.
Forgotten footballers who died in World War One remembered in new fund
Graves of footballers who died of their First World War injuries when they returned to England to be restored
A sculpture called All Together Now by artist Andrew Edwards depicts the Christmas Day football match between German and British soldiers fighting on the front line in World War One in 1914 after being unveiled in the remains of St Luke's Church in Liverpool Photo: REUTERS/Phil Noble
By Georgia Graham, Political Correspondent
24 Dec 2014
The Telegraph
The forgotten role of hundreds of professional footballers who gave up the game to fight in World War One is to be formally recognised by the Government.
Hundreds of professional footballers who were killed fighting in World War One will have their graves restored.
The move will mark the sacrifice of the athletes who gave up their careers to fight for their country.
Sajid Javid, the Culture Secretary, unveiled the plan in honour of tomorrow's 100th anniversary of the Christmas Truce when British and German soldiers shared cigars, sang songs and even played a game of football together in No-Man’s-Land on Christmas Day 1914.
The Government wants to mark the moving match between British and German soldiers and will use part of a £5million fund to conserve WW1 memorials. Football club historians will identify players who fell and their resting places.
Mr Javid said: “On Christmas Eve in 1914, soldiers and families faced a tough first Christmas at war.
“Today we remember those who swapped the field of play for the field of battle and mark the moment football brought respite and hope to some of those in the trenches of the Western Front.”
The dilapidated graves being restored belong to men who died of wounds after coming home.
The team which suffered worst in the conflict was the famous London-based amateur side the Corinthians, who lost 70 players and members.
Footballers, with their youth and athleticism, were valuable recruits for the army. In 1916 Arthur Conan Doyle, the author who used his fame to help recruit for the army said: "If the cricketer had a straight eye let him look along the barrel of a rifle. If a footballer had strength of limb let them serve and march in the field of battle.”
One footballer who gave his life in WWI was Donald Bell, who was a defender for Bradford Park Avenue FC. In November 1914, he joined the army and two days after his marriage in 1915 he was sent to France. A second lieutenant, he died at the age of 25 in July 1916.
He was awarded the Victoria Cross for outstanding bravery by filling his pockets full of grenades, stealing up on an enemy machine-gun post and capturing it.
In an extract from The London Gazette from September 1916 his war time bravery is recorded: "For most conspicuous bravery. During an attack a very heavy enfilade fire was opened on the attacking company by a hostile machine gun. 2nd Lt. Bell immediately, and on his own initiative, crept up a communication trench and then, followed by Corpl. Colwill and Pte. Batey, rushed across the open under very heavy fire and attacked the machine gun, shooting the firer with his revolver, and destroying gun and personnel with bombs.
"This very brave act saved many lives and ensured the success of the attack. Five days later this very gallant officer lost his life performing a very similar act of bravery."
Walter Tull, one of the first British born black army officers and the first black officer to lead white troops into battle, was also a professional footballer. Playing for Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town he died during an attack on the German trenches and his body was never recovered.
English footballer Walter Tull, who played for Tottenham Hotspur, below, was only the second black professional footballer in Britain and the first black man to be commissioned as an infantry officer in the British Army
Footballers who went to war
They get a bad reputation in modern Britain for caring about more about big salaries and fast cars than the beautiful game, but in 1914 even professional footballers could not escape the reality of war
Details courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Sandy Turnbull
In 1905, Scottish centre-forward Sandy Turnbull played for Manchester City and then Man Utd. The hero of the 1909 FA Cup Final, scoring the only goal in the 1-0 win against Bristol City. Accused of match-fixing during a game with Liverpool in 1915 Sandy Turnbull was never able to clear his name. He was killed at the Battle of Arras in 1917 before he had the chance.
Richard Moore
Richard Moore, an Irish international who played for Linfield FC in Ireland (now Northern Ireland), was long retired when he died. A player in the 1890s he lost his life 13 days before the end of the war in Greece. Reportedly killed in an air-raid attack, he could also have died of the Spanish flu epidemic which was raging in Europe.
Leigh Roose
A Welsh International, he played in goal for a number of clubs and clocked up 144 appearances for Stoke City. An interesting character he often arrived at a game driving a horse and carriage.
Mr Roose was famous for being able to punch a football over the half way line - a skill he used on the front, becoming a noted grenade thrower. He was awarded the Military Medal but was killed, aged 38, at the end of the Battle of the Somme and his body was never found.
William Jonas
William Jonas was an English footballer who played for Clapton (later Leyton) Orient and could play in almost any position, even making several appearances in goal. He served in the army alongside team mate Richard McFadden, who reported William’s last moments:
“Both Willie and I were trapped in a trench near the front in Somme, France. Willie turned to me and said ‘Goodbye Mac. Best of luck, special love to my sweetheart Mary-Jane and best regards to the lads at Orient’ Before I could reply to him, he was up and over. No sooner had he jumped out of the trench, my best friend of nearly 20 years was killed before my eyes.”
Forgotten footballers who died in World War One remembered in new fund - Telegraph
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